- 1causing or showing sadness synonym gloomy, miserable dismal conditions/surroundings/weather Christmas will be dismal without the children.
- 2(informal) not skillful or successful; of very low quality The singer gave a dismal performance of some old songs. Their recent attempt to increase sales has been a dismal failure.
adverb I tried not to laugh but failed dismally (= was completely unsuccessful).See dismal in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: dismal